DESCRIPTION: This application requests partial support for a symposium to be held in Portland, Oregon on October 1, 1994, on the Molecular and Neurobiology of Rett Syndrome. It will be one of the satellite symposia held in conjunction with the combined meeting of the Child Neurology Society (CNS) and the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA). The CNS-ICNA meeting, to be held in San Francisco from October 2 to October 8, 1994, will bring together approximately 1,200 to 1,500 pediatric neurologists from around the world. The purpose of the symposium is to present the latest information on the clinical, neuropathological, molecular genetic, and neurobiologic aspects of Rett syndrome. The opportunity to attract some international child neurologists who will be in California for the CNS-ICNA meeting makes it possible to achieve the additional objective of exchanging the latest scientific information on Rett syndrome with a broad audience. The symposium will be chaired by Dr. Alan Percy, Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at the University of Alabama. It will be co-chaired by Dr. Sarojini Budden, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Oregon Health Sciences University, a clinician-investigator who has a long interest in Rett syndrome research. Fourteen speakers and four moderators will be involved in the day-long program. These individuals were chosen because of their contributions to and prominence in the field of Rett syndrome research. Four consecutive sessions are planned, with three speakers for each of three sessions and five speakers for the fourth session. The four sessions will run from early morning until late afternoon on a single day. The subject matter will include clinical aspects, anatomical and functional correlates, molecular genetics, developmental neurobiology, and anatomic and biochemical pathology of Rett syndrome. Questions and discussion sessions will be led by Dr. Daniel Glaze of Baylor College of Medicine (clinical patterns), Dr. Richard Hass of the University of California, San Diego, (molecular genetics), Dr. Yoshiko Nomura of the Segawa Neurological Clinic for Children, Tokyo, Japan (developmental neurobiology), and Dr. Alan Percy (anatomic and biochemical pathology). The symposium will receive additional support from the International Rett Syndrome Association ($15,000) and from Research for Rett Syndrome ($20,000). The audience will be approximately 100 to 150 individuals. It is anticipated that participants will consist primarily of child neurologists from the United States and other countries who will be attending the combined CNS-ICNA meeting in San Francisco during the week after this satellite symposium.A related and highly successful conference was held in Orlando, Florida in October 1992, at the time of the 1992 annual Child Neurology Society Meeting. The proceedings of that meeting were already published.